For a single episode of rape by a juvenile aged 15-16 without gratuitous violence, the sentencing range is three to five years detention. Where the juvenile offender has an extremely dysfunctional background including being a victim of sexual abuse, promising prospects of rehabilitation, an early guilty plea, cooperation with authorities, and no relevant criminal history, the shortest appropriate period of detention may be at the lower end of that range. The statutory requirement that detention be for the least time justified in the circumstances is a mandatory consideration that may reduce a sentence that would otherwise be appropriate on the basis of the seriousness of the offence alone.
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